Why New Movie Musicals And The Box Office Just Don't Mix

Forbes

The new “Mean Girls” film, an adaptation of the Broadway musical based on the 2004 movie, is surprising some audiences who didn’t know the film is a musical—but they may not have known because film studios have been reluctant to market musical movies as actual musicals for fear it’ll turn off audiences.  Some shocked “Mean Girls” viewers are going viral—one video originally posted to TikTok and later uploaded to X depicting an audience that groaned and laughed when a character burst into song has been viewed nearly 36 million times on the platform formerly known as Twitter, and another theatergoer claimed some audience members who disliked the music walked out early.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/01/12/audiences-going-viral-for-not-knowing-mean-girls-is-a-musical-heres-why-film-studios-dont-emphasize-music-in-marketing/?sh=7c30ed761e5b  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:03 The new "Mean Girls" film is not just a remake

00:05 of the beloved 2004 movie of the same name.

00:08 It's actually an adaptation of the Broadway musical

00:11 which was based on the original film.

00:13 But some theater goers say

00:14 they didn't know the film was a musical

00:16 because it wasn't made clear in the trailers.

00:18 Some shocked "Mean Girls" viewers are going viral.

00:22 One video originally posted to social media platforms

00:25 depicting an audience that groaned and laughed

00:27 when a character burst into song

00:29 has been viewed nearly 36 million times.

00:32 And another theater goer claimed some audience members

00:34 who disliked the music walked out early.

00:37 Movie marketers have become cautious

00:39 about emphasizing the musical aspect

00:41 of these films and marketing materials

00:43 because some recent musicals like "West Side Story"

00:46 and "In the Heights" were box office flops.

00:48 "Box office pro chief analyst Sean Robbins,"

00:50 told the Hollywood Reporter.

00:52 Other films that brought Broadway productions to the screen

00:55 like "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Cats"

00:57 failed to recoup their investment at the box office.

01:01 The official trailer for "Mean Girls"

01:02 released by Paramount Pictures in November

01:04 doesn't contain any of the film's original music

01:07 and is instead set to "Get Him Back" by Olivia Rodrigo.

01:11 Though the final trailer did contain a snippet

01:13 of one original song.

01:15 The film opened to mostly positive reviews.

01:18 It has a 71% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 110 reviews.

01:22 And the film claimed the number one spot

01:24 at the domestic box office in its opening weekend

01:27 with a total gross of $33.2 million, according to Deadline.

01:31 "Wonka," released in December,

01:33 also downplayed the musical element

01:35 of the film and advertisements because, quote,

01:37 "test audience focus groups generally hate musicals,"

01:40 Deadline reported.

01:42 Still, the film, led by Timothee Chalamet,

01:45 has made a strong showing at the box office

01:47 with more than $470 million in total worldwide gross so far.

01:52 Meanwhile, "The Color Purple" has struggled

01:54 after notching a record $18 million

01:57 first day domestic gross on Christmas Day.

01:59 (upbeat music)

02:02 (music fades)

02:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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